Burning Rain
by ThoseFanFicGirls
Summary: When Roxas ventures out into the rainy world of Twilight Woods, he catches the eye of Renesmee, who has grown up acquiring more vampires under her service. And now she wants Roxas to become a vampire and join her coven. Axel is his only hope of survival, if he can get there in time. The clock is ticking down until Roxas will be forced to become one of Renesmee's servants forever
1. Chapter 1: One for the Road

Roxas wandered through the dark corridor aimlessly, looking at all of the different worlds he could visit. There were some he still had yet to explore but for the most part, he had been to them all. The Heartless seemed to like particular worlds more than others, so he tended to go back to those ones more often.

But there was one door he'd never been through. It looked like it led to a forest, perpetually in the rain. It piqued his curiosity to say the least, but he was always wary of jumping into random worlds without at least letting either Axel or Xion know where he was going. He wanted to go back to the Grey Room and tell somebody, but it was his day off and both Xion and Axel were off on missions. This might have been his only chance to check it out for a long while.

So, without further thought, he went through the door. His feet squished in the wet ground and he looked up into the drizzling clouds. He had never understood why some worlds, like Twilight Town, were in a stasis. No matter how many times he had looked through the door, it had always been raining. Today was no exception.

He jerked his black hood up and shoved his hands into his pockets. He hoped that perhaps the weather would change even as he knew it wouldn't. With that in his mind, he trudged along the road until he came across a house.

The thing was huge and white, with a wraparound porch and elegant trimmings. It looked like something out of a fairytale. Even as Roxas reminded himself that he saw buildings like this on a regular basis, he couldn't help but feel a bit impressed.

He approached slowly, planning to knock on the door and meet the locals. Maybe they would be friendly. Most people of other worlds generally were. It was one of the reasons he liked travelling so much. He did as he had planned and waited for someone to open the door.

He heard a flurry of movement inside before the door swung open to reveal a woman of average height with bright copper curls and large brown eyes. She was willowy and pale, with a face full of innocence, but something else that he couldn't detect. Upon seeing him, she inhaled and her eyes widened in what looked like delight. She grinned.

"Hi! Who are you?" she asked with a voice like a bell.

Roxas pulled off his hood so that she could see his face as well. Plus, he was protected by the roof over the porch so he didn't need it much anyway.

"I'm Roxas," he answered with a smile. She certainly was pleasant. "What's your name?"

"I'm Renesmee." She looked like she wanted to reach out and touch him but pulled back. "Why don't you come inside for a few minutes; it looks like the rain is picking up." As if on cue, the rain grew louder and heavier.

"Thanks," Roxas accepted graciously and slid past her in the door. Inside was all bland white furniture, which was strangely disappointing to him. He was bored with white from where he lived. He loved the vibrant green outside and wished silently that it had come in the house with him.

"Mo-om!" the girl, Renesmee, called out as she pranced ahead of him into what looked like a living room. "We have a visitor!"

One by one, more people flowed into the room with the strange grace that Roxas had come to associate with only nobodies. Maybe they were other nobodies, members, or former members of Organization XIII. He wasn't ruling that possibility out.

A young looking brunette leaned over and conversed almost silently with Renesmee. Roxas could barely pick out any words beyond Renesmee telling the other girl "But I like him."

Suddenly, there was an uneasy feeling spreading through Roxas. He wanted to return to HQ. To Axel. But he had the suspicion that he wouldn't make it more than two steps toward the door before they caught him.

An older looking woman with honey brown hair entered the room with a tray filled with food and drink. "Are you hungry? It's been so long since we've had guests."

Roxas stood as she set down the plate. "Um, no, no thank you... I-I actually forgot that I have to meet someone else." He gestured behind him even though there was nothing there but a window. He just had to get out of sight of these people, whoever they were, to open the dark corridor again.

"Are you sure?" the honey-haired woman asked with a small frown. "Here, just have one cookie for the road."

Roxas accepted the cookie, not wanting to feel rude, and thanked her. They all backed out of his way as he headed to the door and he frowned. These people were odd, odder than any he'd ever met before. When he got outside, he took a bite of the cookie and chewed slowly while he contemplated going into the rain to get to the shelter of the trees before opening the corridor, or just doing it here. The cookie had a strange taste to it, but he told himself that it was just the food of this world.

Deciding that the now heavier rain wasn't letting up anytime soon, he flipped his hood back up and finished the cookie. He hopped down the steps and took a few steps toward the forest. But his feet felt heavy. And his head was full of cotton. The forest blurred in front of him, becoming a swirling mass of greens and browns. Roxas collapsed.


	2. Chapter 2: The Search Begins

Axel waited on the clock tower, gazing at the sunset and waiting for Roxas. He had the ice creams but didn't want to eat them until Roxas got there. But the two ice creams were almost completely melted, making a blue sticky mess everywhere.

Axel frowned. This wasn't like Roxas. Axel was always the late one, not Roxas. Even when it wasn't his day off, Roxas usually beat Axel here and was waiting for him.

Xion hadn't shown up either, but she went through her spurts and Axel didn't worry much about her. He mostly just tolerated her for Roxas's sake. Maybe Roxas was trying to find her. He seemed stuck to her like glue. Axel supposed it was because they both had the keyblade, but couldn't stop the small twinge of jealousy.

He knew that the friendship he had with Roxas was special and unlike what Xion and Roxas had, but, Axel wanted Roxas all to himself. He knew it was wrong to feel that way, and that was one of the main reasons he never protested when Roxas hung out with Xion. He couldn't control Roxas. And Axel knew that if he tried, Roxas could run away and not want to be friends anymore. Roxas's friendship was more important to Axel than any sort of petty jealousy was.

The bell behind him rang loudly. Axel groaned and tossed the ice cream. Roxas wasn't coming. Maybe he was back at HQ. It was possible that he had forgotten, even if it was unlikely. Either way, Axel would go find him and just make sure that he was okay. The last time Roxas had been unwell, it had worried Axel immensely. He hadn't wanted to leave Roxas's side, but had to in order to complete his missions.

He exited the dark corridor and wound up in the Grey Room. Saix stood in the corner, as usual, watching the others go about their leisure activities. Even Xion was there, standing off to the side, her hood up, face blank. Axel frowned, Roxas was nowhere to be seen.

"Hey, Saix," Axel loped over to his older friend. He suspected that Saix resented Roxas, just from what he knew of Isa before they joined the organization. But Saix was one of the best at hiding any emotions he might have, not that he really tried faking them anyway.

"Yes Axel?" Saix's voice was a bored monotone as usual, but his gold eyes were sharp and piercing.

"You seen Roxas today?" Axel was impressed with how he managed to keep his voice calm and flippant.

"He went out into the Dark Corridor this morning and I haven't seen him since." Saix's voice almost sounded taunting. He knew they needed Roxas, but with Xion being able to summon the keyblade, Roxas was swiftly becoming obsolete.

"I saw him," a soft voice piped up. Axel turned to see Xion standing right next to him, hood still up. That girl was like a ghost sometimes. "And I think I know where he went." Her hand went up to clutch at her chest, where her heart would be if she had one.

Axel watched as Xion turned and began walking out of the Grey Room and into the hallway. Assuming she wanted him to follow her, he did so, nodding in parting to Saix, who just assessed him with that same cold gaze.

"Xion, how do you know where Roxas is?" he asked in a hushed voice when he caught up. She stopped abruptly and turned her head to look at him.

"I don't know, but I have this feeling, that he's in trouble. He needs us Axel. And I feel like, I know which world he went to."

"Then lead the way," Axel opened the Corridor for them. They didn't have time to waste if her feelings were right.

Xion wandered through the Corridor and looked around at all of the doors to the worlds. She paused and stared at the rainy door. "I think he went through there." She pointed a single finger at it.

Axel examined it and then ran a hand through his hair. No one had ever really gone through that door. Heartless didn't seem to gather there, probably for a good reason. Whatever was there, it had to be dangerous, and Roxas had just stumbled upon it blindly.

"Alright, Xion," Axel turned to the petite girl. "Stick close to me while we look for him. Strength in numbers and all. Let's go"


	3. Chapter 3: The Hunt

Roxas woke up later, still feeling like his head was full of cotton. He looked around, noting that he was in a room that was all white again. He blinked, trying to clear his head. Slowly, the features of the room came into focus.

It looked like he was in a bedroom of sorts. He wasn't entirely sure because there was more furniture than his bedroom back at HQ had. He decided that it had to be the answer though as he sat up.

The door opened and in walked a tall man with messy copper hair. He was lanky yet leanly muscled. He had the same yellow eyes that most of the other people had here, and a strangely symmetrical face. He sat down next to Roxas.

"Where am I? What's going on?" Roxas asked, feeling uneasy by this man's presence.

"You are back in our home. I apologize for drugging you, but you see, Renesmee likes you. She didn't want to see you leave, and, well, we couldn't make her unhappy."

"Why?" was all Roxas could ask in response.

"You'll understand when she wakes up later. She can explain everything to you." The man smirked.

"No! I want you to tell me now! Or I'll, I'll leave!" There wasn't much threat behind his words. He couldn't feel any of his powers that came with being a nobody. The cookie must've had something to do with it.

"Interesting, the drugs are interfering with your abilities. That's a new one. But then again, most of us wouldn't know anything about that." The man chuckled.

Roxas frowned and got up from the bed. He felt the room sway and fell back down onto the mattress. How could this guy read his mind? Who was he? And what kind of world was this? He'd have to talk to Saix to see if they could close the door to this world when he got back.

The man's face furrowed in confusion. "Close off the door to our world?" he murmured. "Fascinating."

"So, who are you then if I can't leave?" Roxas asked.

"Oh, pardon my bad manners, but my name is Edward Cullen. I am Renesmee's father," he answered and stood to leave. "I will let her know that you are awake." With that, Edward strode from the room and locked the door behind him.

Roxas stumbled from the bed and tried to summon his keyblade. When it didn't come, he began to panic. If he couldn't summon his keyblade or open the Corridor, then he was stuck here until these drugs wore out of his system. But any number of things could happen between now and then, and he wasn't sure he could make it that long.

Maybe if he could just get out the window, and away from the house, he could hide in the surrounding forest until he could access the Corridor. He went to the window and threw it open easily. They must have felt secure that he wouldn't jump since he was on the second floor. But they didn't know that he jumped from much higher on a regular basis without suffering any injuries.

Roxas climbed up onto the sill and judged the distance. It would be absolutely no problem. He jumped, landing in a crouch. As soon as his feet were on the ground, he took off running for the trees, stumbling a few times as the drugs interfered with his balance.

He felt safe in the forest, surrounded by the trees. He continued deeper into the woods, occasionally looking behind him to see if he was being followed. Thankfully, he was alone.

A frustrated sounding scream pierced the air and Roxas spun in the direction it had come from. They must have discovered he was gone. Without waiting for anyone to follow him, he took off running again, finding it easier than before. The drugs must have been wearing off.

Once he felt like he was a safe distance from the house, he stopped and ducked down in the underbrush. He was near a river; he could hear the water gurgling not far away. But that wasn't all he heard. There was a snuffling noise that was steadily growing closer. He shrunk down deeper into the vegetation. He wasn't sure what was making the noise, but he knew that it was not something he wanted to run into.

"Find him, Jacob!" Renesmee commanded. Her voice was too close. Roxas felt his heartbeat speed up with fear. The snuffling was nearer now.

Roxas peeked out of his hiding spot to see a giant reddish wolf sniffing the ground around where he was. On the wolf's back was Renesmee, riding it like a horse. Suddenly, the wolf looked up and fixed its gaze on Roxas.

He tried to back up, to get away, but he was too slow. The wolf pounced, keeping him on the ground with a giant paw. Roxas struggled under the furry thing to no avail as Renesmee slid off of the wolf's back.

"Pick him up, Jacob, but don't hurt him," she told the wolf. It obeyed, picking up Roxas by his hood and holding him a few inches above the ground. Roxas thrashed and struggled to get away, trying to slide out of his jacket.

"Now, now," Renesmee scolded lightly. She held out her hands towards Roxas's face but he batted them away. "Just let me explain Roxas. You'll understand once I do."

"No!" he yelled, still struggling. He could feel his jacket loosening and he increased his efforts. Renesmee ducked under his flailing arms and placed her palm on his face. Roxas felt as her memories, and her self flowed into his mind. He cried out and kicked out, sending the willowy girl flying back. The wolf snarled and shook him in warning before it tossed him to the side and went to check on her.

Roxas blinked from where he laid on the ground, his mind fighting against the onslaught of memories. Because he had very few of his own, hers invaded his mind like a virus, swirling in his thoughts and embedding themselves there. He wanted to get away, but something was stopping him. He wanted to go and help Renesmee, tell her he was sorry for the way he had acted. He grabbed his head and curled into a ball as his mind fought against her memories, her influence over him.

"I'm fine Jacob, just get him and take us home," Renesmee said. The wolf once more picked up Roxas and carried him back to the house, where the rest of her family came to escort him to another room for holding.


	4. Chapter 4: Kill it with Fire!

Axel and Xion had arrived in the damp world and begun searching for Roxas. So far their investigating had taken them to a school, but it must have been their month off, because no one was there. They wandered aimlessly after that, not finding anyone to ask about Roxas.

"Are you getting any more feelings?" Axel asked impatiently as they followed a large road through the trees.

"No... He was panicked before. That's when the feeling was strongest. He must be, calm, now." Xion sounded confused. "But the last time I felt it, I think it was down this way."

Axel sighed but continued after her. "Is there any other way we could possibly track him?" he asked after a few more minutes.

Xion paused before summoning her keyblade. She bowed her head and a small light grew at the end of the blade. When she opened her eyes again, the ball of light shot out and into the woods. "Follow it!" she called and chased after the light. Axel followed suit until they came to another road which led to a large white house.

"He's in there!" Xion gasped, almost running towards the house. "We have to go and help him!"

"Hold on," Axel put a hand on her shoulder to hold her back. "We have no clue what's in there with him. Heartless don't come here; there's probably a good reason for that. Let me send in some foot soldiers to scope out the place before we do anything stupid."

He summoned a few Assassins and sent them to get some information from the house. He doubted they'd even be noticed if they kept to the walls and shadows. Xion didn't seem to happy but he didn't care what she thought. He would rather execute this as cleanly as possible.

A few minutes later, the Nobodies returned and reported that whatever was in the house with Roxas was not human, Heartless, or Nobody.

Axel's eyes narrowed. "Then we have a bit of a problem."

"I'll say you do," a strange female voice came from behind them. Axel and Xion whipped around. Axel's chakhrams appeared in his hands and he slid into his battle stance. Xion stood beside him, holding her keyblade in a defensive position.

Axel mentally berated himself for this. He was usually so good about staying out of sight of the locals. Yet, he had been so worried about Roxas that his guard had completely dropped.

"Whoa, whoa," the woman in front of them said, holding up her hands in front of her face. She was tall and leanly muscled with deeply tanned skin and short dark hair. She was in simple clothes that looked well used, and barefoot. "I don't want any trouble here. You should be happy that you ran into me and not anyone else."

"Who are you?" Axel demanded, following it up quickly with "And where's our friend?"

"The little blond kid? He's inside. He's fine for now. Stupid bloodsuckers are running tests on him," she huffed and blew a piece of hair out of her face. "Name's Leah. I don't exactly agree with what these monsters do. Might be the only wolf around here who feels that way. Anyway, I want to help you guys. There's only one problem with that."

"Which is?" Axel prompted Leah.

"My Alpha is Jacob, Renesmee's number one plaything. I can't do anything against her as long as he's in charge of me. He's so wrapped around her finger, he's not the same person anymore..." She turned and looked at the ground. "She decided a few months ago, that she didn't like Sam, the other Alpha in the area anymore. So Jacob killed him for her. Now he's the only Alpha, and he's in her possession." Her fierce expression returned. "I want to help you guys, but I can only give you information until Jacob is out of the picture."

Axel banished his chakhrams and leaned against a tree lazily. He figured they could trust Leah for now. But if she turned on them, he would take care of her quick and simple.

"Okay, so you have inside knowledge. Why do these things want Roxas?" he asked, glancing at the house.

"They're, vampires... And Renesmee, she's half-vampire, half-human. But she has this weird mind control ability when she transmits her thoughts into you. It's been ten years since the vampire government tried to kill the coven, and her with it, and failed because she'd amassed so many loyal followers, many of whom had special abilities.

"I think they sense something special in your friend. Like he'd make a strong vampire. They're running a few tests on some cell samples from him to see if their venom will have adverse effects on him. They don't want to risk losing that potential.

"Well, then we shouldn't waste any time. Do these things have any weaknesses we should know about?" Axel scanned their surroundings for anyone listening in, silently sending out his Assassins to patrol the forest and keep anyone hostile at bay.

"Aside from our wolf teeth?" Leah grinned darkly. "Not much. To kill one you have to tear it up and burn the pieces. Their venom is incredibly flammable so the pieces will burn quickly."

"Fire, eh?" Axel couldn't help the feral grin that spread across his face as his chakhrams burst back into existence. "It just so happens that fire's my specialty."


	5. Chapter 5: Waiting for the Tests

Roxas wasn't quite aware of what was going on. He knew he was in a room, but he could've been back at HQ for all he knew. That girl's memories, the way they had flooded into him, it was disorienting to say the least. He stayed curled up against the onslaught for what felt like days but was closer to an hour. He didn't even notice as the strange people stuck needles in his arms and drew his blood.

Finally though, he was able to fight back her memories and make some semblance of his surroundings. He was in a library this time, on a couch. He looked around in mild confusion, only vaguely remembering being brought up here. Renesmee's memories kept mixing with his own and making it difficult for him to separate the two.

The door opened and he stood up, finally able to summon his keyblade. He felt a great deal of comfort and satisfaction from that one consolation. Renesmee grinned from where she stood in the doorway before she bounced in, completely unafraid of his weapon. Why wasn't she nervous? The keyblade was supposed to be a powerful weapon!

"When did you get a giant key, Roxas?" she asked, tilting her head to look at it curiously.

"I've always had it," Roxas huffed indignantly.

"Huh, that's so weird." She looked up at him and grinned widely. "Can I see it?"

Roxas banished the keyblade before she could touch it and shoved his hands into his pants pockets. Wait, his pants pockets? He looked down and noticed that his coat was gone. His cheeks heated but he resisted the urge to cover his bare chest. No one had ever seen him shirtless, and he wasn't entirely comfortable with her being the first. He would have much rather it had been Xion or Axel.

"That wasn't very polite," Renesmee pouted and folded her arms over her chest.

"Sorry," he said as he shied away from her. He looked at the bland white floor. At least at HQ, they had shades of blacks and greys everywhere. This place had no color. It was like it sucked any color out of the surrounding area and neutralized it.

"That's okay; I forgive you." Renesmee grabbed his arm and rested her curls on his shoulder. Roxas shrugged out of her grip carefully. He didn't want to upset her-she had a giant wolf after all- but he wanted nothing to do with her.

"I need to go," he said, almost opening up the Dark Corridor when she grabbed his arm again.

"No! You can't go! We're almost done with our tests! You need to stay so that we can help you!" she begged.

"I don't need any help. I need to get home to my friends." Roxas tugged his arm in her grip but this time she didn't let go. She had a vice grip like a Berserker.

"Yes you do, Roxas! You're dying! Every second, of every day, you're dying slowly and you don't even know it. I can help you. I can take away your death. Please Roxas, stay with us; let us change you. You won't have to fear anything any longer."

"I'm not afraid of anything," he protested. But it was a lie. The only thing he was afraid of right now, was her.

"You need this Roxas. Let me show you why." Renesmee reached out her hand towards his face once more, which gave him the opportunity to break her grip and fall back on the couch.

"No! I don't want your memories!" he cried out, backing away from her and summoning his keyblade without thinking. He pointed it at her, readying a spell to cast. He didn't want to hurt her, just stop her. So he cast Aero, wincing as the gusts swirled around him and blew her back.

Renesmee landed on her feet with that perfect grace, her face curling into an unpleasant expression while Roxas still tried to keep her back. He pointed the keyblade at her in warning, his expression determined.

A few seconds of their stare-down passed before she straightened herself up and smiled again. "Okay, Roxas, I won't give you any more of my memories until you want them. But please, don't go. I would be really sad if you left," and with that, she turned and left him alone in the library.

Roxas almost summoned the door to the Corridor a few times. But each time, he couldn't bring himself to actually do it. Something about her. He didn't want to disappoint her like that. No matter what his better senses were telling him, he stayed where he was so that Renesmee wouldn't be sad.


	6. Chapter 6: Five on Two, Seems Fair

Axel and Xion had taken a few seconds to prepare themselves before they headed towards the house. Leah had warned them that attempting a sneak attack wouldn't work against the vampires, even if they were too cowardly to face the two Nobodies head on as a group. The logic was a bit lost on Axel, especially since there were supposedly over ten vampires in the house at the moment. Even dusks were smart enough to use superior numbers to their advantage.

Axel had his chakhrams in hand, twirling them occasionally. He wasn't sure if they would have any effect on these walking statues, but all he needed was to get the flames started. It shouldn't be too hard.

They were only halfway across the field when five people flowed out of the house gracefully. They formed a line, blocking Axel and Xion from their path to the door.

"We will give you one chance to leave now before we tear you limb from limb," one of the women said. She was strawberry blonde with golden eyes.

"Yeah, that's not gonna happen. You see, you have one of our friends in there, and we've come to get him back. I suggest you step aside and let us through." Axel studied each of the vampires, trying to figure out if any of them were above the norm, like Leah had warned them some would be. None of them looked incredibly special, just weirdly symmetrical.

"We won't back down to Volturi lackeys!" the woman snarled, baring her teeth. The rest of the vampires, except the shorter man, hissed in response. Axel almost laughed at the absurdity of the action. Did they really think that this was threatening?

"Volturi? No, we're from the Organization. We're much worse than anyone in your vampire government; got it memorized?" with that, Axel threw a chakhram, engulfed in flames, at the woman. It was not his best throw, but one of the spikes still managed to cut into her arm, and the fire did the rest.

"Tanya!" the blonde woman next to her screamed as the leader, Tanya, burst into flames quickly. Tanya screamed for barely a few seconds before collapsing in the wet grass, purple smoke rising from her ashes, cloying the air with the heavy scent of incense.

The blonde snarled, and before Axel could blink, she was on him. Electricity flowed from her palms where they grabbed his face. He roared as they fell to the ground. Her teeth were bared and she snapped at him savagely. He noticed that no one was attacking Xion; it was like she wasn't even there.

"Xion!" Axel yelled, his voice carrying a hint of scolding because she was just standing there.

She turned and nodded before pointing her keyblade at the vampire on him and casting Firaga. The spell hit the vampire in the midsection and flipped her off of Axel. But she didn't catch on fire more than just her clothes getting a little singed.

Axel jumped to his feet and summoned his chakhrams once more. He threw them both at the vampire. She was able to deflect the first one since she saw it coming, but the second hit and soon she suffered the same fate as Tanya.

This time Axel was prepared for the next vampire that came at them, and he threw his chakhrams at the taller male vampire before he had even taken two steps. When the three vampires were nothing but smoldering remains, the shorter male finally stepped forward with the dark-haired female.

Xion moved closer to Axel, holding her keyblade ready. He wasn't sure that she'd be able to do much with it, seeing as how it didn't exactly have any sharp points on it to cut the skin of these vampires. But if she could hit them in the face with a fire spell, that might actually work.

The two vampires moved together in synchronization, attempting to surround the two Nobodies. The woman snarled, moving forward but then darting out of the way of Axel's attack. This left Axel's side open for the man to grab him. Axel struggled while Xion kept the woman at bay with the keyblade and a few fire spells.

"You smell just as wonderful as your friend," the man purred. His breath was cold on Axel's skin, his teeth too close to Axel's neck. "I can feel your talent. You would make a powerful vampire."

Axel shoved his chakhram into the man's side, setting him alight in flames. The fire didn't harm him as he waited for the vampire to crumble into ashes, the scent of incense fogging up his other senses until he was finally released from the dying vampire's grip.

The woman gasped and then screamed. "Eleazar!" she wailed and charged him. Xion got between the woman and Axel but the vampire tossed Xion to the side as if she was nothing.

"You will suffer for destroying my mate!" she roared.

Axel managed to dodge her first attack and watched the vampire practically froth at the mouth before she turned around again for another strike. Axel threw the first chakhram at her, which missed. He threw himself out of her path before sending the other chakhram at her. The woman dodged and let out a crazed sounding laugh.

She charged him one last time. When he got out of her way, she was met with a face full of fire from Xion. She fell back, swiping at her face and trying to put out the flames to no avail. It was only a matter of seconds before she collapsed on the ground, still screaming. Axel threw his chakhram at her midsection just to get the flames going a bit more, and waited until she was reduced to smoldering ashes before turning back towards the house.

With one glance at Xion to make sure she was ready, he headed in the door, itching for another fight.


	7. Chapter 7: Another Vexen: Monologues!

The house was disturbingly quiet when Axel and Xion entered. Axel frowned. He knew that the vampires were waiting for them, but perhaps they had seen the battle outside and decided to stay out of the way of the Nobodies. As much as he hoped for that, he knew that the possibility was slim.

"Where is everyone?" Xion asked softly, pulling her hood down.

"Waiting," he answered, his green eyes scanning the large entry hall. He detected nothing, but that only made him more uneasy. The vampires could be waiting to spring on them at any second. "Let's look around for supplies, but keep your eyes open for any of the vampires."

Xion nodded and began rummaging through dressers and side tables, pocketing any munny or potions she could find while Axel stood guard, his chakhrams still out and occasionally flaming with his thoughts. Xion tossed a few potions and ethers to Axel and nodded towards the large, open living room, where a couple sat on the couch.

Axel's eyebrows raised and he approached slowly, spinning his chakhrams on his index fingers. The two on the couch were holding hands. It was a blond man and a woman with honey brown hair. They looked mostly the same as the other vampires the two had faced, with those oddly symmetrical faces and golden eyes.

The man looked up and noticed the Nobodies, smiling when he did. He stood up with extreme grace and took a step towards them. However, he hesitated when Axel's chakhrams flared up in warning.

"Hello," he greeted. "Welcome to our home. Is there any way we can help you?"

"Yeah, actually, there is," Axel replied, still in his battle stance.

"We want our friend back!" Xion blurted, summoning her keyblade. Axel almost rolled his eyes at her bluntness, but he was feeling the same way. He just had better control of his impulses than she did.

"Your friend?" the man asked, his head tilting to the side. "Sorry, but we haven't had any visitors lately. Perhaps we could still help you anyway."

The woman stood and looped her arms through the man's arm. Axel wondered briefly if she would even put up a fight if it came down to it. He doubted either of them would. But he would not hesitate to destroy these two if they stood in his way of finding Roxas. It wasn't as if Nobodies could feel guilt.

"Lying will get you nowhere. We know he's here, so you might as well let us take him. You don't really want to be on our bad side," Axel said with a smirk.

The man frowned and nodded. "We cannot allow your friend to leave. Renesmee, won't like that."

"Well that's too bad for her. We aren't leaving without Roxas." Axel sneered at the two. They were trying what little patience he had. "Now, if you two won't help us, get out of our way or you'll figure out just what happens to people who interfere with Organization business."

The man froze for a second, and Axel was sure that if he could have paled he would have. What cowards these creatures were. He didn't even have his chakhrams on fire yet.

"We will not allow you to harm our family," the vampire said, puffing up his chest.

"Carlisle," the woman whispered, grabbing his shirt, her yellow eyes wide. "Perhaps there's a more peaceful method we can try."

The blond, Carlisle, shook his head. "I will regret this Esme, but there seems to be no way to settle this without violence. We shall stand together and protect our family just as we have in the past. We will not allow these two strangers to disturb our peaceful way of life. We did not bow to the Volturi, and managed to fend them off that way. Nor shall we bow to these tyrants who wish to impose upon-" he was cut off as a chakhram sliced through his neck, lighting the venom inside him on fire.

Axel rolled his eyes. This man talked more than Vexen ever did. He was glad to be rid of him. He attacked the woman, Esme, before she could react. The fewer people he actually had to fight the better. Even if they were becoming easy to defeat, they still managed to tire him out like he wouldn't believe.

"Axel watch out!" Xion yelped before what felt like a ton of bricks hit Axel from the side, knocking him down. His head cracked against the wood floor, stunning him briefly.

When his vision stopped swimming he noticed the hulking figure standing over him. The vampire was bigger than even Lexaeus had been, all rippling muscle. The vampire cracked his knuckles and grinned, his gaze murderous.

Axel got to his feet, almost falling back down when the world spun. He stumbled into the wall feeling sick. He was getting too old for this.

"Axel!" Xion cried, holding her keyblade high. Almost immediately, Axel felt better and stared at the giant vampire, who now seemed to be more bulk than height. Axel was taller than him, if only barely, but far skinnier than the brute.

"Emmett, be careful," a slender and attractive blonde said from the doorway. She had her arms folded over her chest while she watched them. She had an easy sort of confidence, as though she expected Emmett to have no trouble besting Axel and Xion. Axel wasn't sure how long they'd be able to hold up himself, especially if Emmett was as strong as he looked.

"Aw don't worry Rose; I've got this no problem," Emmett laughed. Rose sighed from where she was and rolled her eyes.

"He just incinerated Carlisle and Esme. I'd assume the same happened to the Denalis since he managed to get in here. Maybe you should back off this time."

"You should listen to her," Axel said, looking as relaxed as he could while he gestured one chakhram at Rose. He still felt out of breath from getting knocked around. He'd need a potion or something if he was going to fight either of these two. "She sounds like the smartest one here."

Rose smirked in response. "C'mon Emmett, I don't want you to lose to a cheater. We could go on a tour of the world. We haven't had a honeymoon in fifty years or so." She stretched out provocatively as Emmett turned to glance at her. "There'd be no glory in beating a human anyway. We could find someone worth fighting."

If Axel weren't so worried about being bested by Emmett, he would have taken more offense to Rose's comment about the glory in beating them. But he didn't speak up. Unlike some others in the Organization-mainly Roxas and Xion-he knew how to push his pride out of the way in order to keep himself alive.

Emmett looked thoughtful for a moment before bursting out in loud, boisterous laughter. "You got a point there, Rose," he agreed. Then he turned conspiratorially to Axel. "I'm lettin' y'all off the hook, but y'all will have to take care of Ed and Jasper and the girls." He straightened up and laughed again. "Man, I'd love to stick around and see the look on Ed's face. I'd bet it'd be hilarious."

Axel watched as the two turned and left out the back door. They disappeared into the forest a second or so later and Axel fell back against the wall, letting out a huff. He suddenly felt exhausted. He wasn't sure how much more of this he could handle before he crossed his limits. But Roxas needed them, so they'd push on and fight as many vampires as they needed.


	8. Chapter 8: Dancing Pixie and the Pyscho

Axel took a few minutes to rest, confident that the vampires wouldn't attack them if they didn't have to. Xion managed to scrounge up some food from their kitchen, which helped immensely. They ate quickly, not wanting to waste too much time.

As soon as they were done, they headed for the staircase. They were both certain that Roxas was somewhere upstairs. They were halfway up when two more vampires appeared at the top. Did these things only travel in pairs or something?

Axel paused and examined the two. The female looked like a little girl, with short spikey hair and a tiny figure. She bounced on her feet, watching them with excitement. The male was tall with lean muscles and long blond hair. His expression was different from his mate's; his was calculating, yet excited in a way that was different from the girl's.

"Axel," Xion whined softly. Axel glanced over at where she gripped the railing for support. She was barely standing, clutching at her chest. Axel turned his gaze back at the two vampires, his eyes narrowing. One of them had to be doing it.

His chakhrams burst into existence, flaming with what could be considered his anger. Or, as close to anger as a Nobody could feel. It seemed to be the easiest emotion for the Nobodies to access, though Axel tended to have a stronger affinity for it than any of the other members of the Organization.

The male's lips twisted in a frown as he met Axel's eyes. Whatever he was trying to do must have been failing because it looked like he gave up quickly. The girl danced down the steps with a grace similar to that of the Dancers themselves. She came to stop just in front of Axel and inhaled deeply.

"You smell just as good as your friend," she said with a slow smile. Axel slashed out at her, but it was like she anticipated his move and was never there to begin with. "I bet Nessie would like you just as much as him."

Axel noticed that the little pixie girl had started herding him back down the stairs, while Xion remained where she was, still moaning in pain. Xion had dropped fully to her knees, clutching her head as the man advanced on her. Axel snarled and attacked the pixie girl again. He needed Xion, and Roxas wouldn't forgive him if he let anything bad happen to her.

He did his best to fend off the girl while still keeping an eye on Xion. Xion whimpered and curled up as the vampire stopped just before her, a hungry look on his face. He pulled her hood down and grabbed her chin so that her wide blue eyes were forced to meet his.

"Xion!" Axel yelled, finding that the more distracted he was by Xion and that vampire he was, the easier it was for him to fight off the pixie girl. He decided to focus on just getting over to Xion, only paying the bare minimum of attention to the pixie as she attacked lithely.

The girl shrieked in frustration after she just barely dodged Axel's latest attack, bringing his attention back to her. Axel spun one of his chakhrams at her, only to give her exactly what she wanted. She was back to dodging his attacks perfectly, seeing his moves as he decided upon them.

Xion screamed. Axel lost all attention for the pixie girl and ran for the vampire on the stairs, who had sunk his teeth into Xion's neck. The Nobody batted at him ineffectually with her fists, still screaming.

Axel barely noticed the pixie girl try to attack him again, just throwing his chakhram randomly. He felt the barest hint of satisfaction when he heard the pixie girl scream as she caught on fire. Axel continued on his warpath, chucking his chakhrams at the vampire attacking Xion. The vampire dodged, just barely, pushing away from Xion and wiping his lips, though there was nothing on them.

The vampire's black eyes were murderous as they focused on Xion's neck, which was barely marked. She had no blood in her body for the vampire to try and feed off of. So while there were puncture wounds where his teeth had sunken into her skin, nothing came from them.

Xion summoned her keyblade, which shook in her unsteady hands. Her eyes were full of undiluted fear as she screamed out a fire spell at the vampire, incinerating him in one blow. Axel caught her as she fell back to her knees, shaking. Slowly, she stilled before returning her hood to its upright position. The action itself seemed to comfort her more than Axel could and she stood up.

"We need to keep moving; Roxas needs us," she said and headed up the rest of the stairs. Axel stared after her in confusion for a moment before following her. He could feel how close they were to Roxas now. There was no turning back.


	9. Chapter 9: Match Made in Hell

Axel followed behind Xion as she headed towards a door. She was oddly silent after the last attack, but they didn't have time for him to comfort her at the moment. They both knew this.

When two more vampires appeared, Axel groaned out loud. Couldn't they make it five feet without any of these things spawning? Was that too hard to ask?

"Stand down, blah blah blah, don't mess with the Organization, et cetera, we won't hesitate to destroy you," Axel sighed, running through all of the bullet points in his mind quickly. He put one hand on his hip, waving the other around with a flourish, chakhrams still at the ready. "Got it memorized?"

The bronze-haired male touched the brunette female's shoulder and leaned down to whisper something in her ear. The female nodded, her eyes narrowing at the two and her lips curling into a smirk.

"Find me when you're done, Bella; Nessie needs my help," the male said and retreated into a hallway.

Axel spun his chakhrams in warning. "You don't stand a chance against us. We've decimated the rest of your clan," he taunted as Bella slid into a crouch and bared her teeth, looking eager. Axel could tell just based on her stance that she was the youngest of the vampires gathered. "Alright, have it your way."

Before he could attack her, and surely destroy her in one blow, he was grabbed from behind under the arms and around the back of his neck by someone surprisingly warmer than the vampires. Axel growled, his chakhrams disappearing as his concentration faltered.

Xion didn't pay him any attention, focusing on Bella instead. Good on her. Axel would find a way out of this without her.

Bella attacked Xion, missing the slight Nobody by quite a bit. Xion responded by swinging the keyblade out in an arc at the back of Bella's head. Bella fell over, spinning as she did so to land in a crab-like position on the ground. She leapt up, tackling Xion with a snarl.

Axel grumbled from where he was, sending out a summons to a few of his Assassins. He heard the soft whoosh of air as one entered the building. It knew what to do, and barely a second later, the person restraining Axel cried out and let Axel go. Axel stepped away and brushed his coat off as the man fell to the ground with a thump and didn't get back up. Frankly, Axel didn't care if he ever got back up.

"Jake?" Bella gasped from where she had Xion pinned. The vampire looked up and gave Xion just the opening she needed to throw her off and send a ball of fire her way. Bella screamed and fell back, batting at her face repeatedly. She managed to put the fire out-a first as far as Axel had seen-and snarled at the two of them.

"How dare you!" she screamed, her eyes narrowing in blinded rage. "I will tear you two limb from limb and gorge myself on your blood!"

Axel sighed and rolled his eyes. Were all vampires this over-dramatic? It seemed so. Bella snapped to attention and looked over in his direction. Her lips pulled back over her teeth until it no longer resembled a dark smile, but a feral baring of teeth in preparation for battle.

"You," she said and pointed directly at Axel, who just watched her with a bored expression. This was really drawing on any patience he had. "I will kill you first, and then your little friend."

"I really wouldn't advise that," he replied, bored. "How about you take the loss of your sight with some grace and step aside, please." He had a chakhram flaming and ready to take care of her the second she made a move towards him.

"No! My life was perfect! And you've destroyed most of my family, and are trying to kill my daughter! You will be lucky if I just settle on draining you dry." With that, Bella lunged, only to be met with a face full of chakhram. The venom in her burst into flames, reducing her to ashes in minutes.

Axel watched as Xion rummaged through a few more end tables in the hallway, tossing him a few things and pocketing others. When she got to searching near their opponents, she found a necklace with a wolf on it and tossed it over to him. Axel took a quick inventory of what he had before following Xion down the final hall.

"We're in the home stretch Axel; can you feel it?" Xion turned to meet Axel's eyes, hers wide and full of hope.

Axel paused and then nodded. "Yeah, I can." He scanned the hallway, finding only the one door. The door that led to Roxas. "Hold on Roxas; we're coming."


	10. Chapter 10: Memories

Roxas stayed where he was until Renesmee came for him later. With her was Edward and two more vampires. One was an extremely tall and athletic woman dressed like an ancient warrior, the other was a shorter boy with dark hair. Both had red eyes.

Roxas shied away from the group unintentionally before Renesmee bounded over to him and took his hands in hers. She had a huge grin on her face.

"We just got the tests back. It's perfectly safe to make you like us!" she cheered.

Roxas felt a pit sink in his stomach. This wasn't good.

"I-um, no thank you," he managed and stepped back. Renesmee frowned.

"But, Roxas, how will you stay with me forever if you don't let us change you?" she said, drawing closer to him. He tried to keep her at arm's length but it wasn't long before she was pressed against him. "Roxas, I love you, and I don't want to lose you."

Roxas had no answer for her. He wasn't even entirely sure what love was. So to have her profess that to him, well, it was weird.

"Roxas?" Renesmee asked after a few moments where he didn't reply.

"I-I don't know what to say... But, I can't love you. I don't have a heart to feel it," he said slowly, hoping she took it well.

"That can't be true, Roxas! You have to love me." She seemed utterly confused by the idea of him not having a heart.

"There's nothing I can do about it. I'm a Nobody. Nobodies don't have hearts," he said with a shrug, trying to get away. "I can't feel anything."

Renesmee grabbed his face with her hands-keeping her thoughts to herself-and pulled it towards hers. He felt her lips on his, trying to pry his open, her tongue running along his bottom lip. The entire experience was strange to say the least. Roxas knew that he didn't enjoy it because it was her kissing him. He pushed away from her, eyes wide and confused. Renesmee looked up at him, expression changing rapidly from confusion to hurt to fury.

"How dare you!" she shrieked and stalked toward him. "I love you, Roxas! I love you more than anything! How could you not love me back?" Through her anger, Roxas could see both the confusion of a small child, but also the cold calculation in her mind that he recognized from the higher ranking members of the Organization.

Roxas fell back into a corner and watched as Renesmee flexed her hand. Roxas didn't even think to summon his keyblade as she grabbed his face. All of the confusion and anger was gone, replaced solely by that cold, unfeeling resolve.

"Well, if you can't love me, then I'll just make it so that you can be completely devoted to me, just like my Jacob. Your friends killed him; but they won't be able to kill you. You'll want nothing but me, and you will be mine forever Roxas." Her voice was as emotionless as Saix's or Xemnas's.

Roxas's eyes widened in what he could only assume was the closest to fear that he could feel, before he felt the familiar presence of her memories, her self, invading his consciousness. He screamed and tried to push her away as her entirety flowed into him, but strong arms held him down.

Roxas continued his efforts of thrashing until her thoughts took over his own. Suddenly, it was as though she was the most important thing in all of the worlds. She was what mattered most, the one thing he couldn't live without. Axel and Xion were distant memories of people he hardly knew nor cared about anymore.

And not long after that, she completely replaced him. Her will completely overpowered Roxas's, erasing what little self he had managed to achieve. Roxas as anyone knew him was gone, replaced purely by Renesmee's desires and needs. He was no more than a sentient puppet of Renesmee's design, there solely for her to do with as she pleased.

Just before he passed out, Roxas knew deep in his mind, that he would do anything for her, give her anything she asked, just so she could be happy. Forever.


	11. Chapter 11: Two for One

Axel and Xion made their way to the final hallway when all of the sudden Xion cried out, grabbing her head and falling to her knees. Axel spun to check on her, unsure of what to do. He couldn't see any vampires who might have been able to do something like that.

"Xion," he said softly, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Xion, what's wrong?"

"It hurts," she whimpered, shaking as she curled in on herself. "Her memories, hurt..."

Axel's brows pulled low and he glanced down the hall to that final door. It had to be something to do with Renesmee. Could she project pain out like that? Somehow, he didn't think so.

"Whose memories?" he prodded softly, unsure of what he could really do for Xion. He wasn't sure a potion would work. This seemed to be all mental, and those really only worked on the physical.

"The girl's..." Xion's eyes looked far off for a moment. Then, she was up and almost sprinting down the hall. Axel grabbed her arm to hold her back from doing anything rash.

"Xion, what's going on?" he demanded.

"We have to go! They're torturing him, Axel! Roxas is in pain!" the little Nobody cried, her voice cracking in desperation.

That got Axel to his feet. They didn't have time to waste, but they still had to exercise caution. Charging in headfirst with reckless abandon would get them nowhere except maybe destroyed. They began down the hall again, at a quicker pace than before, with Axel still holding Xion back from sprinting to the end.

The door at the end of the hall opened and Axel stopped, sighing as a lone vampire exited the room. This vampire, unlike the others, had red eyes. Axel wondered if this meant they were getting stronger. The yellow-eyed vampires didn't seem to be very strong at all.

"Do we need to go over the spiel or have you guys got it memorized?" Axel was utterly resigned to the fact that they would just have to continue fighting their way forward. The closer they got to this Renesmee everyone kept mentioning, the more loyal those were to her.

"If you mean to say that you will fight me to get to your friend, Roxas, then yes, we all know your speech," the vampire said. "And let me tell you in return, you will not make it past this point."

Axel shrugged, summoning his chakhrams. "Don't say I didn't warn you." He threw his chakhrams, causing three separate explosions of fire to go off around the vampire. He didn't want to waste time.

But when the flames cleared, the vampire was still there, untouched. He grinned, holding up his hand where a flame appeared on each finger. "I told you, you will not make it past me with your little fire tricks."

Xion pointed her keyblade at the vampire and yelled, "Blizzard!" A decent sized chunk of ice shot out of the tip of her keyblade at the vampire.

Even if Axel had expected it to hit, he didn't expect it to have any effect on the stone hard vampire. But it never hit. The vampire caught the ice, turning it to water, and threw it back at them. Axel threw up a wall of fire to shield them, lowering it when the sizzling noise stopped.

Axel frowned, waiting for the vampire to actually attack them back. But it seemed as though he was a mainly defensive fighter. They couldn't keep throwing these elemental attacks at him if they did nothing.

"Axel," Xion said quietly, looking to him. Axel gritted his teeth, spinning his chakhrams while he worked on coming up with a plan. He summoned another Assassin, deciding that less honorable means would be necessary. He wouldn't be hindered by little things like honor while Roxas's life was on the line.

Axel kept his eyes on the vampire, even though he was watching for the Nobody's advance. He threw a fireball just before the Assassin was going to attack. The vampire dodged the chakhram and summoned a ball of fire to his palm. Then, just as the Assassin appeared to attack, the vampire threw the fire at it, smashing it with his fist.

Axel cursed under his breath but moved closer to the vampire. His best bet would be to go into melee combat if their magic wasn't really working. Xion moved in as well, but stayed behind Axel. The keyblade would only work so much on these creatures, and it wouldn't really destroy them the way Axel's chakhrams would.

The vampire watched them calmly, confident in his own standing. Suddenly, Xion cast thunder on the vampire. A lightning bolt shot down from the sky, striking the vampire, who screamed in pain. Axel didn't waste the opportunity, attacking with his chakhrams while nodding at Xion to continue with the thunder spells.

He dismantled the vampire with quick precision, making sure to torch the head first. Out of all of the vampires here, this was one that he definitely did not want coming back for them.

Once the smell of incense had dissipated a bit, they went to the door. It was locked, which was the most trivial obstacle Renesmee had thrown at them so far. A quick tap from Xion's keyblade unlocked the door, which swung open slowly.

The two stepped through the door, and back into the Grey Room in the World that Never Was.

Axel looked around the room, utterly confused. How did they get here? Maybe they stepped through some sort of portal? He wasn't sure as he approached Demyx, sitting on the couch strumming his sitar.

Xion remained a ghost at Axel's side, clinging to his coat like a small child. Axel scratched the back of his head, looking around.

"Any idea how we got back here?" he asked Xion. The Nobody shook her head, looking around at everything.

"Something here, isn't right..." she said softly. Axel nodded and swiped out at the back of Demyx's head to get his attention, only for his hand to go right through the blond's head.

"Whoa," he said and pulled back. His eyes narrowed and he swiped through Demyx a few more times. They were being tricked with illusions, similar to what Zexion could do. But whatever illusionist was making these was an amateur. The one time Axel had seen Zexion's illusions in action, he had honestly believed they were real. They hadn't been foiled by touch alone.

"Xion, can you sense Roxas?" Axel whispered. Xion nodded.

"He's here, I just can't see him," she said. Her hands still clutched his coat tightly, but now he saw that there was probably a reason for it. If she let go, they might not be able to find each other again.

"Okay, can you sense anything else?" Axel tried to fight through the illusion, but he couldn't do it if he knew neither the source nor how it worked.

Xion's face screwed in concentration. Axel noticed that her eyes appeared to be a darker color than usual, as though they were shrouded in sheer shadows. He frowned, deciding that it must be the effect of the illusion.

"No, I can only feel Roxas," she finally said. "Axel, we have to hurry! I think he's Fading!"

"Okay," Axel said and stuffed his hands in his pockets to think, cursing how slowly he felt like they were moving. While his hands were there, he felt the charm Xion had given him earlier. That gave him an idea. He couldn't see what was messing with them, but if he were to summon whoever this charm was linked to, he or she might be able to help them out.

He took the charm out of his pocket and focused on calling whoever it was for to him. The charm glowed and out of the light burst a huge, grey wolf. The wolf turned to glance at him and chuffed once before it began to sniff the ground.

Once it found what it was looking for, it growled, ears pointed straight up, hackles raised. Xion's grip on Axel tightened the second before the wolf pounced on something. There was a horrible tearing noise accompanied by screams and slowly, the Grey Room around them bled away to reveal a library, set up like some cross between a bedroom and a hospital. Axel saw the remains of a vampire in a pile on the floor, and torched it before it could start to reassemble itself.

The wolf turned to where Edward and a human girl sat next to Roxas, who was asleep in a bed. The wolf looked ready to attack before it began fading around the edges until it was no more. Axel cursed softly. Summon charms only worked so well...

Axel took a step towards Roxas, feeling nothing but relief that he was still alive and appearing to be in one piece.

"Stop!" the girl said and turned her brown eyes on the two Nobodies. "Don't come any closer."

"Or what?" Axel spit, his chakhrams bursting into existence. Of everyone they'd faced, this little girl intimidated him the least. She would probably be the easiest to defeat when everything came down to it.

"I need to save Roxas, and you can't be here or I can't save him. Zafrina was supposed to keep you two busy until I could save him." The girl pouted childishly.

"Jeez, and I thought the Organization was full of nuts," he sighed. He weighed his chances of destroying Edward before he made a move towards them, but held back. The way the vampire was watching them was a bit too knowing, like he could read their thoughts.

"Nuts? Ha! As if. Roxas has already come to see our side of things. He wants to be saved. Isn't that right, darling?" the girl said as she ran her palm along Roxas's forehead.

Xion stepped away from Axel, summoning her keyblade. "Axel," she said softly just before Roxas opened his eyes.


	12. Chapter 12: To the End

Axel watched as Roxas sat up, expression blank. The girl touched Roxas's face gently so that he turned stiffly to look at her. "You'll protect me, won't you?" she said softly. Roxas nodded and got out of the bed, keyblade appearing in his hand.

"Roxas!" Axel snapped, trying to pull Roxas out of whatever trance he was in. "Snap out of it! We're your friends, Axel and Xion!"

Roxas leapt at Axel, swinging his keyblade down in an arc. Axel held up his chakhrams to block and managed to throw Roxas back. The blond boy landed on his feet, looking completely unfazed. Axel huffed, trying to come up with a way to get Roxas to snap out of it without hurting him too badly.

"C'mon Roxas, we're best friends! Don't you remember? We meet every day for ice cream on top of the clock tower in Twilight Town," Axel said, maintaining the defensive as Roxas attacked again. Roxas's attacks were steadily getting more vicious. "Little help would be appreciated, Xion."

Xion moved into action, casting Aero on Roxas and flinging the boy back. Roxas crashed into a wall covered by a bookcase. He fell to the ground and books rained down upon him. Xion moved fluidly back to stand beside Axel.

"I'll hold him off; you try to get rid of the vampire," she said softly, her face determined. Axel nodded, knowing the two keyblade wielders were more than evenly matched.

He turned to see that Edward had stood up, looking resigned to the fact that he'd have to fight. Axel sneered, not intending to hold anything back. This boyish vampire had hurt Roxas just as much as the human girl had, and for that they would both pay dearly.

Axel feinted to the side, his chakhrams glowing with the heat of his fury. Already a few of the books in the library caught fire just from being in the same area as him. If it got much stronger, he might just torch the entire room. Wouldn't be the first time his temper had gotten the best of him.

"Axel, we do not intend to hurt Roxas. He wants to be a part of this family," Edward said slowly, his voice even as he matched every move Axel made.

"You mean the 'family' that tried to destroy us, his friends? The 'family' that is now nothing more than a pile of ashes?" Axel spat back, unable to help the vicious grin when Edward flinched.

"Why are you fighting so hard for him? I can feel his thoughts, just as I can feel yours. Roxas cares nothing for you or Xion. As soon as he met Renesmee, he knew that he wanted to stay with her. He doesn't want you to save him."

"I'm fighting for him because he's my friend! And no matter if he wants it or not, I will always be there to bring him back," Axel snarled as he swung out at Edward's shoulder, missing the vampire's clean dodge. Edward backhanded Axel, sending him flying back into the wall of windows. Axel fell to the ground, groaning. He'd forgotten how much of a punch these things could pack if he let them.

"You shouldn't make promises you can't keep Axel," Edward purred as he appeared over the Nobody. He grabbed him by the neck and hoisted him up, pinning him against the windows hard enough for a spider-webbed crack to appear.

Axel grunted and tried to push Edward back as the vampire bared his venom-coated teeth. "Now, the only question is: how shall I kill you? I haven't tasted human blood in so long. I wonder what yours would taste like..." Edward leaned in, his eyes half-lidded in intoxication.

Edward's razor sharp teeth cut through the flesh of Axel's neck easily, drawing blood. Axel screamed at both the pain of the vampire drinking from him and the burn of the venom coursing through his veins in replacement. His arms flailed uselessly for a few seconds before they locked up from pain as his body went into shock.

Vaguely, Axel heard Xion scream his name and suddenly, he was free of the vampire's grip. The wooden floor felt almost pleasant against his burning cheek as his body tried to fight off the venom. He gasped for air, having a bit of trouble due to the wound on his neck having been deepened when Edward had been ripped from him.

Soon after, the burn of the venom was accompanied by a new pain, a different burn. His body began to convulse, and his eyes rolled wildly. Through all of this, Axel wondered if this is what it felt like to die, to disappear and fade away.

The newer burn overtook the venom quickly, soon leaving Axel feeling numb and sick. He lay on his back, panting heavily, still trying to recover from the trauma. Xion's voice called his name from far away and the numbness faded, restoring him as it left.

He sat up, just in time to see Xion fly past him into the already cracked window. It shattered under the force at which she hit and she fell backwards out the window. Axel jumped to his feet and reached for Xion, missing her outstretched hands by inches. The Nobody dropped to the ground, landing on her feet. They had all jumped and fallen from higher than merely two stories. It would just take her a while to get back into the library.

Axel turned just in time to miss the keyblade aimed at his head. It embedded in the glass before disappearing and reappearing in Roxas's hands. Axel summoned his chakhrams and turned to face his friend and Edward. He knew, deep in his gut, that whatever was going through Roxas's mind was put there by these monsters. The thought made his power curl in his stomach, growing until he couldn't hold it in anymore.

He warped behind Roxas, slamming his elbow into the back of the boy's head to knock him out. With him incapacitated and not currently a danger, her turned on Edward.

"You," he snarled, his voice low and deadly. Even as his powers flared, there was a strange calm he felt. He knew he could take these two easily now that he wasn't holding anything back. "You kidnapped my friend. You hurt him and messed with his head. You made him into something he's not, and if there's one thing that just really pisses me off, it's hurting my friends."

Edward rolled his eyes and started toward the Nobody just before Axel roared, his chakhrams spinning in the air next to him. The books around them burst into flames, which spread to the fabrics and anything they could find. The vampire only looked slightly concerned, and, were Axel not as furious at him, he might actually pity the fool for not realizing how imminent his doom was.

As it was, Axel sent the two chakhrams flying in an arc, feeling satisfied when they cut the vampire cleanly in half, the venom in him igniting faster than he could even process it enough to scream.

"Daddy!" the girl screamed, running toward the pile of ashes but stopping short and turning to head to Roxas, who was at Axel's feet.

"Not one more step," he warned. She stopped where she was, assessing him coolly. She cocked her head to the side and frowned.

"I don't know what Roxas sees in you," she said, taking a slow step forward. "Or, saw, I should say. My dad was right when he told you all of those things. Roxas is mine now, and he won't want to stay with you, no matter what you do. But, if you allow me to show you why, perhaps you can stay with us." She held out her hand in offering, stepping closer once more.

Axel grabbed her wrist and jerked her up off of the ground. She yelped, eyes wide, thrashing in his grip as Axel pulled her closer.

"I don't need to see your side of things because I already know them. Weren't you paying attention to what I told your father? You hurt my friend, and now you're gonna regret it." He didn't even spare her much of his attention as he tossed her to the ground and summoned Assassins and Dusks alike. The lesser

Nobodies hoarded around the girl as she screamed and thrashed. Soon, her noises died down to pathetic mewls and whimpers, and then faded completely.

Axel picked Roxas up and stumbled out the door, suddenly feeling exhausted as his fury waned and the toll his powers had taken on him became apparent. He had just made it to the end of the hall when Xion came bolting up the stairs.

"Axel!" she gasped as he swayed unsteadily on his feet. The world spun sickeningly, and was slowly going dark around the edges. Axel's knees gave out and he collapsed.


	13. Chapter 13: Icing on the Cake

Axel woke up in his bed back in the Castle that Never Was, disoriented, and looked around. Everything looked as it should. He wondered if possibly everything that had happened had been a bad dream. Sitting in a chair next to the bed was Roxas. The boy perked up as soon as he noticed Axel was moving.

"Axel! You're awake!" he cheered, hugging Axel tightly.

Axel sat up and put a hand to his head. "Ugh, what happened?" he groaned, feeling a splitting headache attack his mind.

"Xion told me the gist of everything that happened. Apparently after you beat the vampires, you passed out and she had to drag us back here. You've been sleeping off the exhaustion for a few days," Roxas explained.

"Ah huh..." Axel nodded, vaguely remembering the last fight. He had almost crossed his limits. He was lucky to even be here right now. "Are you okay?" he asked suddenly as some of the finer details came back to him. "When we found you, you were in really bad shape."

"What? Oh, yeah! I feel great. I don't remember very much of what happened in that world. Everything's kind of a blur..." Roxas shrugged. "I guess it doesn't really matter anyway. As soon as we got back, Saix had the door sealed off for good."

"That's probably for the better," Axel said, scratching the back of his head and wondering just how much Roxas did remember. "You sure you're okay?"

"Yeah! Thanks to you and Xion, I'm okay. I don't know what would've happened if you two hadn't come to my rescue," Roxas said as he looked down and blushed sheepishly. "Thanks again. I'm really lucky to have you as a best friend." Roxas looked back up at Axel earnestly, his blue eyes wide with his innocence.

"Don't mention it; it's what friends do for each other." Axel smiled before tentatively pulling Roxas to him in a tight hug. He had missed everything about his best friend, and was grateful that he had him back. He couldn't imagine not having Roxas around anymore. The thought of going back to that near emptiness he'd felt before Roxas had joined the Organization was nearly unbearable. When he was with Roxas, he felt so good, like he had a heart again, and he thought that Roxas perhaps felt the same way about him.

"Oh! I almost forgot! C'mon, we have somewhere to go!" Roxas pulled away and grabbed Axel's hand, jerking him out of bed. Axel stumbled after the bouncing Nobody as he practically sprinted to the clock tower.

Xion was waiting for them, sitting on the ledge as usual, holding three ice creams. She looked up as they approached and grinned timidly. "You're awake," she said.

"Thanks to you," Axel nodded to her with a half smile. The girl beamed and handed out the ice creams as the two boys sat down next to her.

"A toast," Roxas declared, hoisting his ice cream stick high in the air. "To friendship!"

Axel and Xion chimed in as well, tapping their ice cream against Roxas's. The three then relaxed on the ledge, watching the sun set and enjoying their ice cream. Axel glanced over at Xion and mouthed a 'thank you' to which she responded with a wink and a small chuckle. He sat back, feeling content with everything.

This adventure had taught him how quickly things could change, and he vowed to cherish every moment with Roxas, and now Xion as well. He'd grown to appreciate her more than he ever thought he would. And he expected their friendship to only grow in the future.

Even though he knew that Nobodies had no hearts to feel anything, he thought he felt the strange blossom of hope deep inside. Axel kept his tentative hope to himself, hope that this was the largest trouble these friendships would face. Though, he was quite confident, he was sure that if they could get through this, any troubles that arose in the future would be a cake-walk.

He knew that their friendship was strong enough to overcome anything thrown at them. Foolishly, he looked to the future with a brighter outlook, seeing nothing but better days ahead of them.


End file.
